Periodic fasting is good for your heart and overall health
New evidence from cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute shows that fasting not only lowers one’s risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person’s blood cholesterol levels. Fasting was also found to reduce other cardiac risk factors, such as weight and blood sugar levels.
“Fasting causes hunger or stress. In response, the body releases more cholesterol, allowing it to utilize fat as a source of fuel, instead of glucose. This decreases the number of fat cells in the body,” says Dr. Benjamin D. Horne, PhD, MPH, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, and the study’s principal investigator. “This is important because the fewer fat cells a body has, the less likely it will experience insulin resistance, or diabetes.”
In addition to the cardiovascular benefits, it was shown that during 24-hour fasting periods, human growth hormone (HGH) increased an average of 1,300 percent in women, and nearly 2,000 percent in men. HGH works to protect lean muscle and metabolic balance, a response triggered and accelerated by fasting.
While the results were surprising to researchers, they caution against a fasting diet just yet. It will take more studies like these to fully determine the body’s reaction to fasting and its effect on human health. Dr. Horne believes that fasting could one day be prescribed as a treatment for preventing diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Maple syrup packs plenty of health benefits
Researchers have recently identified 54 beneficial compounds in Canadian maple syrup, finding that it packs many of the same health benefits as those found in berries, tea, red wine, and flaxseed. Many of the polyphenol compounds have antioxidant properties with well-documented health benefits, such as anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activity.
Maple syrup may prove to be relevant in Type 2 diabetes management, although the findings must be verified in clinical trials. “We discovered that the polyphenols in maple syrup inhibit enzymes that are involved in the conversion of carbohydrate to sugar,” said Dr. Navindra Seeram, assistant pharmacy professor at University of Rhode Island (URI) and a lead scientist on the maple syrup research tea. “In fact, in preliminary studies maple syrup had a greater enzyme-inhibiting effect compared to several other healthy plant foods such as berries, when tested on a dry-weight basis. By 2050, one in three people will be afflicted with Type 2 diabetes and more and more people are looking for healthier diets, so finding a potential anti-diabetic compound in maple syrup is interesting for the scientific community and the consumer,” said Seeram.
Five of the 54 antioxidants were newly discovered, never before found in nature. One of the compounds has been named Quebecol, and is of particular interest among the researchers. “We don’t know yet whether the new compounds contribute to the healthy profile of maple syrup, but we do know that the sheer quantity and variety of identified compounds with documented health benefits qualifies maple syrup as a champion food,” commented Seeram, whose findings have recently been published in the Journal of Functional Foods.
——————–
The University of Rhode Island’s research grant was co-founded by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, CDAQ and AAFC. Funding of CDAQ is provided through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program. AAFC has been able to provide financial support for maple syrup research through the program “Growing Canadian Agri-Innovations.”
Study questions acupuncture’s pain relief and safety
One of the most touted benefits of acupuncture has been its ability to alleviate pain. Now, this benefit continues to be inconclusive, as a new study comes to light questioning its effectiveness and safety.
Investigators from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth (Exeter, UK) and the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (Daejeon, South Korea), reporting in the April 2011 issue of PAIN®, conclude that numerous systematic reviews have not generated enough convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain, and serious adverse effects continue to be reported.
“Many systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain management are available, yet they only support few indications, and contradictions abound,” commented lead investigator Professor Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, Laing Chair in Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter & Plymouth, UK. “Acupuncture remains associated with serious adverse effects. One might argue that, in view of the popularity of acupuncture, the number of serious adverse effects is minute. We would counter, however, that even one avoidable adverse event is one too many. The key to making progress would be to train all acupuncturists to a high level of competency.”
The investigators acknowledge that many high-quality randomized controlled trials have shown that various forms of acupuncture, including so-called “sham acupuncture,” during which no needles actually penetrate the skin, is as good as or better than standard care, but that safety concerns remain. Adverse effects from acupuncture treatments – which include infection, trauma and other detrimental effects – do not necessarily arise from the treatment itself but rather malpractice of practitioners.
In an accompanying commentary, Harriet Hall, MD, states her position forcefully: “Importantly, when a treatment is truly effective, studies tend to produce more convincing results as time passes and the weight of evidence accumulates. When a treatment is extensively studied for decades and the evidence continues to be inconsistent, it becomes more and more likely that the treatment is not truly effective. This appears to be the case for acupuncture. In fact, taken as a whole, the published (and scientifically rigorous) evidence leads to the conclusion that acupuncture is no more effective than placebo.”
Daily safflower oil may reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes
Taken daily for 16 weeks, a dose of safflower oil (about 1-2/3 tsp) has been shown to positively affect health factors such as improve good cholesterol, insulin sensitivity, and blood sugar levels in obese postmenopausal women with type II diabetes.
In a previous study performed with safflower oil, it was shown to reduce abdominal fat and increase muscle tissue in this group of women after 16 weeks of daily supplementation.
“The women in the study didn’t replace what was in their diet with safflower oil. They added it to what they were already doing. And that says to me that certain people need a little more of this type of good fat – particularly when they’re obese women who already have diabetes,” said Martha Belury, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and lead author of the study.
“I believe these findings suggest that people consciously make sure they get a serving of healthy oil in their diets each day– maybe an oil and vinegar dressing on a salad, or some oil for cooking. And this recommendation can be extended to everyone.”
Linoleic acid, one of the beneficial fatty acids in safflower oil, is known as an omega-6 PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acid).
“A small change in eating behavior to alter the fatty acid content of the diet might improve metabolic measures in people already consuming what is considered to be an adequate amount of dietary linoleic acid,” Belury said. “What is needed in our diet is PUFAs to help with cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 killer of men and women in this country.”
EarthTalk: Pesticide use and thyroid disease; and mining and water pollution
Dear EarthTalk: Instances of people with thyroid problems seems to be on the rise. Is there an environmental connection?
– Dora Light, Waukesha, WI
The American Cancer Society reports that thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that have been on the rise in recent decades, with cases increasing six percent annually since 1997. Many researchers, however, attribute these increases to our having simply gotten better at detection. Regardless, exposures to stress, radiation and pollutants have been known to increase a person’s risk of developing thyroid problems.
The nonprofit group Beyond Pesticides warns that
some 60 percent of pesticides used today have been
shown to affect the thyroid gland’s production of T3
and T4 hormones. Commercially available insecticides
and fungicides have also been implicated. Women
are most at risk.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Thyroid disease takes two primary forms. Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid produces too much of the T3 and T4 hormones that regulate metabolism. This can cause a racing heart, weight loss, insomnia and other problems. In cases of hypothyroidism, the body produces too few hormones, so we feel fatigued and may gain weight, among other symptoms. According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), many people with thyroid problems don’t realize it, as symptoms can be mistaken for other problems or attributed to lack of sleep. Thyroid problems in children can delay or impair neurological development.
Doctors are not sure why some people are prone to thyroid disease while others aren’t, but genetics has much to do with it. One recent UCLA study found that genetic background accounts for about 70 percent of the risk. However, researchers have begun to find links between increased risk of thyroid disease and exposure to certain chemicals, especially among women. “Pesticide Use and Thyroid Disease among Women in the Agricultural Health Study,” published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2002, found that Iowa and North Carolina women married to men using such pesticides as aldrin, DDT and lindane were at much higher risk of developing thyroid disease than women in non-agricultural areas. According to Dr. Whitney S. Goldner, lead researcher on the study, 12.5 percent of the 16,500 wives evaluated developed thyroid disease compared to between one and eight percent in the general population.
Continue reading »
Regular exercise provides anti-aging effect
In a study conducted by researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, genetically-disadvantaged mice that were forced to run a treadmill for 45 minutes several times a week were noted to be more youthful and healthier than a control group of mice that didn’t exercise.
The startling anti-aging effects on the mice were noted in every part of the body, including the hair, skin, ovaries, testicles, spleen, kidneys, and liver. The control group had damaged musculature but it appeared normal in the exercising mice.
Both groups of mice were genetically engineered to age faster due to a defect in a gene; however, despite this genetic defect, the mitochondria – the part of the living cell which has its own DNA and is thought to accumulate mutations that lead to aging – appeared young and healthy in the exercise group.
“Many people falsely believe that the benefits of exercise will be found in a pill,” said Dr. Tarnopolsky, principal investigator of the study and a professor of pediatrics and medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “We have clearly shown that there is no substitute for the “real thing” of exercise when it comes to protection from aging.”
Adeel Safdar, lead author and a senior PhD student working with Tarnopolsky said: “I believe that we have very compelling evidence that clearly show that endurance exercise is a lifestyle approach that improves whole body mitochondrial function which is critical for reducing morbidity and mortality. Exercise truly is the fountain of youth.”
Popularity of urban gardening growing among city dwellers
With food prices soaring and interest in improved environmental and lifestyle practices becoming more widespread, city dwellers are looking to community gardening as a means of empowering themselves.
Recently in Washington DC, a handful of organizations and hundreds of residents gathered at an urban gardening forum to promote the local food movement.
Rooting DC, a Washington DC organization that brings community members together for urban gardening and agriculture, and continual development of city gardening projects, was on hand at the event to distribute free seeds to the public.
One of the forum’s goals was to show residents how to work with small growing spaces. “We can grow our food in as small a space as a flower pot, but we work with residents to use spaces as small as three feet by three feet (0.9 meter),” said Dennis Chestnut, member of a Washington DC gardening group. “So that is what we consider an ideal size for a small space garden.”
The organizers of the event, now in its fourth year, are looking to create a bigger movement of sustainable local food systems, with their sights on eventually going global.